Lies in a Nightmare
by Hidden Shipper of Secrets
Summary: Two girls go through the ups and downs of living in Gotham City. Finding, what they think is love and making some deadly enemies. Read to find out more. I suck at summaries but the story is better than it sounds, This is written by my friend and me.
1. Characters

~Character~

Name: Avery Matthews

Age: 21

Gender: Female

Birthday: September 13

Height: 5'9

Weight: 150

Eye Color: Dark Brown

Hair: Black long and curly

Name: Ellaryn "Ryn" Campanelli

Age: 21

Gender: Female

Birthday: February 14

Height: 5'0

Weight: 125

Eye Color: Green

Hair: Red and wavy


	2. Chapter 1

~Chapter 1 Avery~

I stare at my reflection in the mirror, grabbing the sides of the sink I lean in closer to the mirror. I watch as blood starts to trickle down from the corner of my mouth; I go to wipe it away but there's nothing there. When I look back at the mirror my eyes widen in horror, my reflection is staring back at me with a wide smile and a crazed look in its eye. I close my eyes and grip the sink harder.

"This isn't real," I say to myself trying to calm down. Taking a deep breath, I look up at the mirror, I watch my reflection frown and the mirror cracks right down the middle.

"This is real, This is all real," I watch my reflection touch the mirror, and it cracks again, "I need you to let me in or you can continue to reject me until you are no longer yourself anymore." I feel tears form in my eyes, I've been fighting this for so long I want to let go.

"Okay...you win," I say feeling defeated, the reflection of myself rests her hand against the mirror.

"Put your hand on mine," She says, I slowly reach my hand up and place it on hers. The mirror shatters, she grabs my hand and pulls me through into the darkness. I can't see anything for about a second until across from me a bright light illuminates the figure of the reflection of myself.

"You belong here...We belong here, together." The light blinds me. My hand goes to my eyes to block the light, "Uncover your eyes." I do as she tells me to. Once again I'm staring at my reflection in the bathroom. The mirror is still intact, yet there is blood dripping onto the sink.

"I told you to take them." I look up from the sink to see Jackson standing in the doorway holding a pill bottle.

"I don't need them." I wipe my nose with my hand, a trail of the blood being left behind. I quickly wash my hands and the sink free of the blood, "You're going to drive yourself insane." I laugh loudly as I turn to face him.

"I can't drive myself insane if I already am!" I push Jackson aside and leave the bathroom. I walk into my bedroom and sit in the middle of the bed, when I look up I see Jackson standing in the doorway still holding the bottle. I look down at the bed, feeling guilty for making him worry. Jackson walks over and sits next to me.

"Avery, please take them, you'll feel better if you do," He says sitting the bottle down in front of me. I look down at the pill bottle and take it into my hand when I hear a voice, kind of like mine but gravely, in my head.

"Don't listen to him, he wants to get rid of me." The voice says I shake my head knowing the voice is wrong. Jackson just wants to help me, I open the bottle and take two of the pills out. I begin to take them, but I end up throwing the bottle across the room as if I wasn't in control of my own actions.

"I SAID NO!" The voice yells, I jump at how loud the voice is inside my head.

"Why would you do that?" Jackson questions as he stands up. I try to say I'm sorry and that I don't know why I did it but it won't come out, that's when I realize that she's in control. She lunges at Jackson, knocking him to the ground. I try to stop but it's like I can only watch what's happening. She sits on his chest and wraps her hands around his throat.

"You will never take me away from Avery ever again," She says and tightens her grip, cutting off his breathing. I'm screaming and begging her to stop but it's too late, he's already dead, and suddenly I'm back in control. I cry as I look down at my now-dead lover, hoping that this isn't real and that he will open his eyes and everything will be alright, but that doesn't happen. I lay my head on his chest and cry.

"Don't cry," I hear her say," Now we can be together forever." I crawl over to the corner of the room and sit there, not sure of what to do now. I grab 2 of the pills off the floor, holding them in my hand.

"I don't want to be with you forever, bitch," I growl and throw them to the back of my throat before swallowing them. I can feel her trying to get back out, it feels like my head is throbbing. After about a half-hour the throbbing stops, I get up to pick up the pills and shove the bottle into my pocket. I'm about to pack a bag to leave when I hear sirens coming down the street, someone must have heard the commotion. I panic and just throw things in the bag, then I hear banging on my front door.

"GCPD open up!" I hear a male voice yell, I run out of my room and out the back door hoping no one is there. I run into the woods behind my house, it's been snowing, and the cold air burns my lungs. I hear running behind me, so I try to go faster but I end up tripping and falling into the cold snow. I try to get back up quickly but I hear a voice near me, "Freeze and put your hands up." I stand slowly, turn, and slowly put my hands up where they can be seen. As the man gets closer he looks more familiar. Then it hits me, that's Jim Gordon, the man bound and determined to clean up Gotham, Ryn has mentioned him a few times. I start to feel dizzy, a side effect from the medication, and my vision starts to blur. I fall to the ground and lose consciousness seconds after.

When I wake up, I'm in a bed the sheets and pillowcase are white. I try to move my arms but I'm restrained to the bed; I sigh noticing I'm in Arkham. I look around the room the walls are a light grey, almost a white color, and the door is white and has one square window. There's a small bedside table and a desk in the corner of the room. I jump when I hear the door open, Jim walks in, shuts the door behind him, and stands at the foot of my bed.

"I'd like to ask you a few questions if that all right." He says calmly and I nod, "When I obtained you last night, these I found these on your person." He says holding up my bottle of pills, "What are they for?"

"They are antipsychotics, I have Dissociative Identity Disorder and they help keep me from having episodes," I say trying to sit up as best as I can, he nods.

"Why did you kill the man we found at your house?" I bite my lip, feeling tears sting my eyes.

"I-I didn't want to kill him, I loved him, he was just trying to help me and I killed him." I say, sobbing "I forgot to take my medication that evening, he was trying to give them to me and she didn't like that...so she killed him." I say feeling more angry than sad now.

"That's all I need, a nurse should be in shortly to get you new clothes." He says before leaving the room. I lay back down on the bed and rub my face on my shoulders to wipe the tears away. A few minutes later I hear the door open again, but this time I don't sit up.

"I'm going to let you out of the restraints and get you some new clothes." I hear a female voice say. The nurse says, at least I assume that's who she is. Her hair is short, and she has a white nurse's cap and a white uniform with her name tag on it. She unties the restraints from my wrists and I sit up, "Here are the clothes." She hands me a black-and-white striped shirt and a pair of matching pants, "I'm going to close the curtain so you can change, just open it up when you are done." I nod my head and she closes the curtain to give me some privacy. I stand up off the bed I pull the clothes from last night off and put the new ones on. The shirt has a patch that says A-313 on it with red lettering, and the sleeves hang past my hands, so I roll them up, and the pants are kinda baggy. I sit back on the bed to put on the white shoes before getting up and sliding the curtain open. The nurse smiles at me, she's holding a metal tray with two dixie cups on it, "I need you to take this medicine for me, then I'll take you to the rec room with some other inmates." I take the dixie cup with the pills, looking down at them.

"What are they?" I ask studying the contents of the cup.

"Two of them are antipsychotics and the other is an anti-anxiety medication." I nod and throw the pills to the back of my throat, take the cup of water and take a drink so I can swallow them. I shudder and put the cup back on the tray, "Follow me, please." The nurse says before opening the door, leading me down the hallway. When we get the rec room its outlined in a chain fence and a guard unlocks the door and the Nurse walks me in, "You will have breakfast, lunch, and dinner here and group therapy sessions will also be held here." I nod.

"Thank you," I say softly, the nurse turns and leaves, the door locking behind her. A few inmates turn and stare at me as I sit in an empty chair in the corner of the room. Not even a few seconds later their attention is no longer on me and I feel like I can breathe again. I pick up a random book of the table next to the chair, not caring what it is. I flip through it as I watch people move about the room, no one really catches my eye until I notice this tall man with light brown hair, glasses, brown eyes, and he doesn't really look like he belongs here. He's standing by one of the long tables, settling an argument between 2 of the inmates. It seems like he's studying the way they react to certain things, he looks over at me and I quickly look away not wanting to draw attention to myself. When I look back, he's walking in my direction, I look back down at my book and pretended to read.

"You don't seem like you belong here." I hear a voice say from beside me, I close the book and lay it back on the table.

"I could say the same thing," I say looking up at the man, he's watching the 2 at the table who seem to be getting along now. He chuckles before sitting in the chair next to mine.

"What's your name?" He asks looking away from the table to look over at me.

"Avery Matthews," I say softly, biting my bottom lip. I know I'm in the crazy bin and I shouldn't trust him but he's nice...and kinda hot.

"Ed...Nygma." He says and reaches a hand out to shake mine. I smile and shake his hand. I jump when I hear a screech from across the room, "Don't worry, that's just Jerry, he does that from time to time...so how did a quiet girl like you end up here?" He asks. I look down at the ground, hair falling in my face.

"I-I accidentally killed my boyfriend." I say I look back over at Ed, "What about you?" I ask.

"To make a long story short, I killed a guy for hitting the girl I liked, then I accidentally killed her, and after that, I was caught framing Jim Gordon." He says, frowning when he says Jim's name. I continue to look at him, not sure of what to do. I know I should be freaked out or scared but I'm not, I feel drawn to him. I snap out of it when the 2 patients from the long table yell at each other, "Well, I thought I finally had them calmed down." Ed says watching the two yell at each other. I watch as three guards come in, two of them take the two that are arguing.

"Okay everyone, back to your rooms!" The other guard yells. Ed and I stand from the chairs and walk towards the exit.

"I'll talk to you later," Ed says and I nod as he turns to go back to where the room is. I make my way back to my room, trying to avoid other people. When I get in my room, a guard shuts and locks my door, I plop down on my bed feeling tired and kinda dizzy from the medication. I don't know how long I lay there but eventually, I fall asleep, thinking about a way to get out of here….and about Ed.

~Ryn~

The moon shines brightly, casting light onto me as I perch on the green bench out in the clearing. Out in the distance, I can see something or someone. It's the figure of Lucia. Lucia is an unstable girl with an insane personality, she also happens to be my sister. I gulp as her figure gets closer to our bench, she may be my sister but at times it's easy to remember what she did to him. It's easy to be frightened of her, especially when we're meeting alone at night. Lucia had called me half and an hour ago wanting to know if we could talk at our bench.

She's getting closer and with the moonlighting up her face I can see the glazed look in her eye. I was there when she attacked him and the look she's giving me is the same she gave him before attacking. When Lucia reaches me finally, her smile reflects the shine of the moon. She says in a hushed tone,

"Do you know?" I look down then back to her with a sad look,

"I know." She stares at me as I stare at her. We both know that we're both just lonely abused children. Without a warning Lucia lunges at me, her hands aiming towards my throat. I duck out of the way and shove her onto the bench,

"I'm sorry," I whisper. I watch as her eyes widen in surprise and fear. I, quickly, bring the knife down on her skull. The feeling of the knife sliding inside her head and the sound it makes would make anybody want to vomit, but me? It gives me a sickening feeling in my gut that makes me want to do it again over, and over, and over again...So I do. Once she's unrecognizable, I pull back and look her over. I drop the crumpled, rusty, dented knife and make my way home. My mother is waiting at the door with a look of concern,

"Is it done?" I nod my head while I head to the kitchen for a glass of water,

"Don't be sad, she deserved it for killing your boyfriend." I sigh and set down my glass. Mom touches my shoulder as I walk past her and up the stairs. Once in my room, I change into my pajamas and pull the covers up to my chest. My eyes stay open, wandering around the darkroom,

"Ryn." I hear a whisper to my side. I sit up in bed, nothing,

"Ryn." I freeze as a breeze tickles my right ear. Slowly, I turn my head to the right. My heart skips a beat as Lucia's deformed, bloody face stares at me,

"You can't kill what doesn't die." Her voice is hoarse and her eyes are bloodshot,

"She made me." The broken corpse grabs my throat softly,

"Because you blamed me." She doesn't sound angry, she sounds as if she's sad,

"I would take it back if I could." Lucia smiles at me, she raises her other hand, the one still on my throat, the moonlight causes the object in her hand to shine. It's the crumpled knife,

"We can be together forever if you want." Before I can answer the knife is slicing across my neck. It doesn't hurt, I thought it would, but the image of Lucia standing over me holding that knife is haunting. My bedroom door opens, revealing my mother,

"Ryn? Are you awake?" The light switches on, Moms scream fills my ears and her face hovers over mine. I get out of my bed. I can see my mother pressing on the wounds on my body. Lucia touches my shoulder, my head turns to her,

"Now we can always be friends." Lucia leads me out of the house to a doorway in the middle of the street. Walter, my old boyfriend, is waiting for us with a smile on his face,

"Come on then. Let's go home." I take his hand as Lucia takes his other and we make our way forward, past the piles of bodies of people I've killed, to the white door that's dripping blood. I can already hear the screams from this side, I can't imagine what it will be like once we pass the threshold. The door opens to reveal the flames trying to drag us in. It's hot and humid, maybe it wasn't such a good idea to kill so many people. The body on the ground beside me reaches up with a rotting hand and it speaks in a hoarse tone,

"Hell awaits you." Walter lets go of my hand,

"You go on now." Walter and Lucia both look happy,

"You aren't coming?" Lucia smiles kindly at me,

"We have elsewhere to be. Goodbye." With that, they turn their backs and walk through another doorway. Gulping, I turn back to the door that waits for me. The flames seem bigger and brighter than before,

"Hell awaits you." The rotting corpses around me chant. I hold my breath and step forward.

With a gasp, I sit up in bed. Mom isn't in my room and I'm definitely not dead, I killed Lucia and I told my mother she killed my boyfriend even though I was the one that did. I didn't have a choice. He would have left me, he would have gone away and never come back, He deserved what he got. I close my eyes and picture my mother's face. I haven't seen her in years but her face is still fresh in my mind. I sigh and stand from my bed. I can hear somebody messing around in the kitchen, singing a song and my cousin humming the song his mother used to sing. I put on some random clothes from the floor and go to meet them in the other room.

"Morning Olga." I turn to glare at my cousin, "Ossy." Oswald turns around to glare at me.

"Ellaryn." I sneer and go to take a step towards him but Olga steps between us and points a duster at me.

"No fighting in my kitchen." We watch her leave the room.

"Good morning, cousin." He says unhappily. I roll my eyes and walk past him.

"I'm going out today." I state as I try to find something in the fridge, failing to find anything, I close the door and lean against it, "Can I have like 20 bucks?" Oswald's mouth falls open.

"You pick a fight with me and then ask for money?" I nod my head and smile at him widely, "Fine." He hands me the money, I thank him and go up to my room to get dressed. I choose a black long-sleeved shirt and a black skirt with black heeled combat boots. Once I've dressed I go down the stairs and out the door with only a shout to Oswald that I was leaving. On the way to the GCPD I hear somebody scream down the alley I'm about to cross. I stop and peak down the alley. A young girl is being held down by a big man.

"HEY!" Without thinking I round the corner and pull out the knife I always carry with me. The man looks up at me before looking back down at the girl. He hits her across the face, knocking her out cold, before standing and looking down at me.

"Get outta here kid before I decide you're next. I hold up the knife and smile, "Try." The man lunges but I easily dodge him, he swings his fists at me repeatedly but he doesn't touch me once. Finally, I swipe at him with the knife. The blade slashed across his eyeball. I watch as he drops the floor holding his eye. I'm about to stab him again when he grunts and falls to the ground, a hole in the middle of his eyes. Another man down the alley is holding a gun pointed right at me.

"You're welcome!" He says cheerfully. I wipe the blood off the blade and tuck it back in its holster.

"Go away!" I turn my back to him and continue on my way. I can hear him clomping behind me with his big ass shoes, "I can hear you." I growl to him. Not a second later his hands are on my waist and his lips are on my ear.

"Come home with me." He whispers in my ear. I close my eyes for a split second before elbowing him in the stomach.

"In your dreams, Sweetheart." Victor continues to follow me down the street all the way to the GCPD. As soon as I walk in Jim is in front of me with a grim expression covering his face.

"What the fuck did you do?" I put my hands on my hips and glare.

"Your friend, Avery, she got put in Arkham today. She killed her boyfriend last night." The frown falls from my face and I drop my arms to my side.

"Jackson?" Jim nods his head while I put mine in my hands, "God." Fucking seriously? Like I can be perfectly fine and murder tons of people but one crazy person kills her boyfriend, and she gets thrown away? What kind of fucking shit is this!? With a sigh, I turn around and walk down the street again. This time the trip to Arkham is longer than when I usually walk there. I usually only go once a week to see Ed and I've already gone this week, I'm not going to see Ed this time though. The guards let me in once they see me.

"Morning Ryn!" The guard, that I suspect has a crush on me, says. I wave to him as I walk up to the front desk.

"I'm here to see Avery Mathews this time, Kevin." Kevin looks at me confused before nodding and typing something.

"You know where to go." I smile at him before going to my usual visiting room. It only takes about 10 minutes before the guards are bringing in Avery and she's seated across from me.

~Avery~

I wake up to the sound of my door opening, I sit up and a guard walks into my room.

"You have a visitor, follow me." He says I stand up, not bothering to put the shoes on, and follow him down the hallway. He takes me to a room and opens the door. I see Ryn sitting at a table, he takes me into the room and has me sit in the chair across from her, "I'll be right outside." He says and Ryn nods before he leaves the room.

"You should have called me as soon as you killed him, I could have helped you," Ryn says, I nod knowing she's right.

"I know, I'm sorry it all just happened so fast," I say before giving her a confused look, "How did you know I was here?" I ask.

"Jim told me when I got to work this morning." She says and I sigh.

"Of course he did." I mumble before rolling my eyes, "He could have at least asked what happened before, I don't know, locking me in crazy town!"

"Yeah, you aren't even as crazy as half the people in here." Ryn says, "But, here is better than Blackgate."

"Yeah, I guess," I say, annoyed at the situation I'm in.

"I'm going to talk to Ossy and see if he can do anything about this. There's a guy here, Edward Nygma, tell him your a friend of Ryn's and he'll keep you safe, we worked at the GCPD together before-." I cut her off already knowing what she's going to say.

"He killed the police officer, his girlfriend, and got caught framing Jim. Yeah, we already met, he seemed nice and not as crazy as people think he is." Ryn smiles before I hear the door open behind me.

"Times up." The guard says Ryn stands up.

"I'll talk to Ossy after work today and see what he can do, be careful." I nod and she leaves the room, the guard follows her. I get up and start to go back to my room before I feel someone grab my wrist and I'm pulled into a small, dark closet. I'm about to scream when a hand covers my mouth.

"It's okay, Avery, it's just me," Ed says in a hushed voice and he moves his hand from my mouth.

"You scared the hell out of me!" I whisper shout, glaring up at him, he smiles at me. I can't help but smile back, "Ryn just visited me, I didn't know you two knew each other."

"Yeah, we're good friends, we worked together when I was working at the GCPD." I go to shift away from him when my back hits the wall. The closet is smaller than I expected and we're really close together. He starts to lean in until our faces are a few inches apart, "You're very beautiful, Avery." Ed says softly, I blush and before I can say anything his lips are on mine. His hands move to my waist as I kiss him back. I wrap my arms around his neck, pulling him closer to me. Ed pulls away suddenly and takes a step back, "I'm sorry, I need to go." He turns to leave the closet but I grab a hold of his hand.

"Wait, talk to me, what's wrong?" I ask he shakes his head before pulling his hand away.

"I can't." With that said he leaves the closet. The closet door shuts and I'm left in the dark. I take a deep breath as I slide down the wall to sit on the floor. I'm not sure if I'm upset because he left or if I'm angry at myself for falling for him. I pull my knees up to my chest and bury my face in them, starting to cry at this point. I'm not sure how long I sit in that dark closet, but eventually, I get up and go back to my room. I lay on my bed, face down into my pillow. I feel restless, and it starts to piss me off. I sit up and throw my pillow across the room, before throwing myself back down on the bed. I fall asleep soon after, hoping I wake up in a better mood.

~Ryn~

On my way out I say goodbye to the guards before making my way back to work. Jim is nowhere around when I get back and neither is Harvey. I go ahead and make my way to the lab where I work part-time. As soon as I step inside I realize that there's a man going through files and stuff.

"Who are you?" I ask loudly. The man turns around and smiles. "Lucius? What are you doing here?" He holds up a finger and reaches into his pocket.

"I work here." I take the thing from his hand. It's a GCPD Lab ID. I hand it back to him.

"Fine...Just don't mess anything up! I spent forever cleaning this place." Lucius and I work quietly around each other until my lunch break, "I'm headed to lunch." I begin to reach for my purse but he stops me.

"Go ahead and take the rest of the day off. I won't tell." I sigh in relief.

"Thanks, Lucius." I give him a quick hug before running out the door. I go straight home after lunch. Oswald usually just lounges around the mansion, pretending to do something worthwhile. Oswald is just hanging up the phone when I come in, "Who was that?" I ask as I hang up my purse.

"A friend. What are you doing here so early? I planned to pick you up from work today." I shrug and place a chaste kiss on his cheek.

"They let me off early." He furrows his brow.

"Yes, but you usually don't come home until around midnight. Did something happen?" I bite my lips and shrug.

"Sorta...I need a favor. You see I have this friend that got locked up in Arkham last night and I need to get her out." Oswald rolls his eyes.

"Is that all you wanted? I was just about to go down and get Edward out, I guess I could get her out too." I squeal and hug him.

"Her name is Avery Matthews." Oswald nods his head and grabs his coat.

"No parties while I'm gone!" He shouts as he closes the door behind him. As soon as Oswald's big fancy car pulls out of the driveway I run-up to my room and grab some extra clothes and stuff before taking them to the room beside mine. Olga is standing in the room with a duster with a frown on her face.

"Olga? What's wrong?" She turns to face me and waves the duster.

"I get too old for this. Hire more maids!" She then leaves the room. I put the clothes in a drawer and then go downstairs to wait for them. A couple of hours pass and they still haven't gotten here so I curl my legs underneath my chin in the armchair and reach for the landline. I dial a number and wait as it rings, it takes a few rings before he answers.

"Hey!" I say happily. He stays silent for a moment.

"Need a job done?" I bite my lip.

"No." Another pause.

"Then why did you call me?" My face starts to heat up.

"I-I was bored...You've always liked bugging me so I thought I would bug you for a change." I can hear him hum into the phone, a gunshot following behind it.

"How am I supposed to help with that?" I shrug my shoulders.

"Come keep me company." A few quick shots, "Unless you're busy." The shots pause.

"I'll be there in 5." Before he hangs up I can hear him shooting faster. I put the phone back on the holder and curl up. Not even five minutes later the door opens and I can hear his big ass shoes clomping into the sitting room.

"I highly doubt your shoes fit your feet." I tilt my head back to look at him. My hair falls and I'm pretty sure my smile looks like a frown with eyes and a nose below it. Victor steps closer and kneels next to my head, he takes off his gloves and begins to run his fingers through my hair, "I said to keep me company not make me fall asleep." I mumble as my eyes start to close.

"Do you want me to stop?" I shake my head slightly. We stay like this a minute before I feel his lips touch my cheek next to my ear, "Ryn." He whispers. A tingle runs down my body causing me to finally open my eyes. I meet his with mine, his fingers still, my heart races, and I sit up. In one swift movement, I'm off the chair and my arms are around his neck, his on my waist, "I blame you for this. Calling me while I'm working just because you're bored. Shame on you." He grips a fist full of my hair and yanks my head back, exposing my neck. I can't help but make a sound as his lips caress my throat. I can't help the moan that escapes my lips as he bites me. I grip the back of his neck and pull him closer, "Do you want to fuck me?" He whispers in my ear. His breath is hot on my neck and shoulder. There's an ache in my pussy from being so swollen with lust. My hand slides from his neck to the front of his pants, I can feel the hardness as I rub him through his pants. I want his hands and mouth on every part of my body. No, I want every part of him all over me. He pulls my shirt up and his lips tug on my nipple, his hand sliding up my shirt to remove my underwear. His chest on mine, fists in my hair. I pull him out of his pants and he moves so that his cock is gliding on my pussy and clit.

"Yes," I answer him after a moment, then his lips are on mine."Right here, right now." I tell him, my words punctuated by my heavy breathing, as I pull back slightly from the pleasure on my mouth. I groan as I continue to rub along his length with my hand. My other one clasped behind his neck. He groans low before he answers.

"Yes."I step back.

"Take me then," I say. He smirks and turns me around and places both my hands on the desk. Then his warm hardness is between my thighs. He pulls back a little and finds my opening with his tip. Slowly, he enters me, taking minutes, hours, it's amazing and excruciating. Finally, he's all the way inside me and he stops, still, filling me. His fingers reach around and pull on my nipples. I clench around him in response, and I can feel him shudder slightly. I pull back to start him moving in me, but he leans forward.

"Don't move yet," He whispers. I stop and he pushes himself all the way into me again. His hands move down my body, across my ribs, shivers moving through me, my breathing erratic. He reaches between my legs, taking the wetness from my pussy and sliding it up one side of my lips, then the other. He starts making slow circles across my vulva, tantalizingly close to my clit, but expertly just missing it, making my pussy contract around him. As he finally touches his fingers to my clit, he bites my shoulder gently, making me gasp with double pleasure. I groan as his fingers continue, up and down, in circles, stopping to press. I squeeze my thighs together to stop myself moving, while I squeeze him inside me."Do you want me to fuck you?" He asks me, each word accompanied by sliding of his fingers over my clit.

"Yes," I gasp.

"Right here, right now?"His fingers are moving harder and faster, and my legs are beginning to wobble.

"Yes," I can barely speak.

"Do you want it hard?"He's teasing me, I'm incapable of wanting anything else but him as hard and deep as possible.

"Yes," I don't even know how I'm still answering him.

"Like this?"He slides out of me slowly.

"No," I say as he comes out so far just the tip of him is resting on me.

"No? Do you want me to stop?"

"No!" I know he's teasing but there's a hint of real panic in my voice. I feel like I'll implode if I don't have him soon.

"Oh, okay," He says. Then he continues his slow rhythm, achingly filling me, then coming out, and teasing my vulva with his tip. I start to make obviously fake crying sounds."Why so sad?" He asks, "Do you want to be fucked like this?"He drives himself into me suddenly, but when he gets to the end he stops and is still. I groan aloud in pure frustration. Victor lets out a low chuckle.

"Sadist," I say teasingly.

"I think it's at least equal parts masochism," He replies, softly running his nails down my back and butt."You never answered my question," He says.

"What question?"

"Do you want to be fucked like this?"Then blissfully he's moving in and out of me, each glide of his hardness sending waves of pleasure throughout my body.

"Yes, yes, god, fuck yes, yes, fuck, ohmygod ohmygod, fuuuuuuuck..." Victor wraps his arms around me, his breath hard in my ear, his dick like a stone in my pussy. His arms are all that's keeping me standing as his groaning makes my pussy contract with each of his thrusts. I'm close to coming, and I want to, I want to feel his pleasure pulse inside me. As he cums I shudder in his arms, pleased, but also frustratingly turned on with no release. He holds me for a moment, then slides slowly out of me, as my legs nearly fail, he holds my hip to support me. Victor turns me around and pushes me down so I'm sitting on the desk. His mouth is on my clit, his tongue running up and down its short length. I buck against him, and he slips three fingers inside me, curving them upwards. I groan and cry out and my whole body shakes as I come hard. Victor sighs and set me back on my feet, which are still shaking, I run my fingers through my hair and then straighten my shirt and skirt. I notice Victor is also situating himself. The front door opens just then.

"Go!" I whisper to him as I shove him towards the window, "Ossy would kill me!" Victor puts one foot out the window before grabbing my shirt and pulling me towards him for one last kiss. I watch him run towards the street before going over to the chair and kicking my underwear under the chair.

"Ryn!" I smile as Avery sees me.

"Avery!" I rush to her and give her a quick hug.

"Next time you kill somebody call me!" I smack her lightly on the arm. Oswald is leaning against the wall next to Ed.

"Thanks, cousin!" Ed frowns at me and glances at Oswald from the side of his eye.

"He's your cousin? You could get in a lot of trouble at the GCPD if they knew that." I wink and hold a finger up to my lips.

"Enough chat...Where's my hug, Bitch?" I run at Ed and slam into his chest, my face squished against it. He hugs me back awkwardly.

"You're too short to hug." He says after I let him go.

"Fine. Oswald can get you set up then. I'm taking Avery though!" I grab her hand and drag her up the stairs.

"This is your room, I put some of my clothes in the drawer until I can go to your place and get your stuff. I would stay up longer but I have worked so I have to get to bed but if you need me, I'm next door." I go to leave her room but she stops me.

"Ryn?" I look at her.

"Yeah?" A smile makes its way to her face.

"Take a shower. You smell like sex." I stick my tongue out at her and close the door. I walk straight to the bathroom and wash everything from today off of myself. As soon as I step out of the shower the bathroom door opens and Ed's mouth drops. Ed stands there for a good minute before I reach over to grab the soap from the sink, I chuck it at him, "GET OUT OR I'LL KILL YOU!"

"Sorry!" He walks back out and slams the door. I purse my lips and nod my head.

"Of fucking course!" I growl and snatch my towel off the sink. After I've dried off and my hair is up in the towel I look in the floor-length mirror, my eyes find my tattoo on my hip. It's a small tattoo of a sharp knife with vines and skulls on the handle. It's an exact replica of the knife I used to kill my sister. I quickly put on a towel and head to my room where I finish drying my hair and put on some pajamas. I lie in my bed and close my eyes. Images flash in my head and I just know that what I'll be dreaming about tonight.


	3. Chapter 2

~Chapter 2 Avery~

It's been about 4 weeks since Oswald got Ed and me out of Arkham. I'm sitting in the middle of my bed knees pulled up to my chest, I haven't taken my medication since I left Arkham and I've been fine for the most part. Tonight has been specifically rough, the longer I'm off the meds the more I can feel her trying to get control back. I grab my purse, deciding to get my prescription refilled and not take the chance of having another episode. I glance over at the clock, 4 a.m. I sigh and push myself off the bed. I leave my room quietly, hoping not to wake anyone up. As I go to open the front door, the doorknob turns and the door opens. I jump back away from the door and Ed walks in.

"Avery, I-I didn't think you would be up." He says, with a look of surprise on his face. I roll my eyes and push passed him towards the door.

"I'm leaving anyway so it doesn't matter," I say as I'm walking out the door. I hear footsteps behind me, I sigh and turn around, "Yes, Ed?" I say in an annoyed tone.

"Where are you going?" He asks I shrug my shoulders.

"I'm not sure yet, I just need to get out for a little bit." I say, not wanting him to know I'm going to get my prescription filled, and I cross my arms, "Does it really matter?" I ask.

"Whatever you are doing, you should wait until morning, it will be safer." He says taking a step closer to me.

"Just go inside and pretend you didn't see me, it's not like you really care about me anyway!" I say before taking off down the road not letting him say anything. I walk until I get to the pharmacy which is conveniently open 24 hours a day. I go inside and go back to the counter.

"Good morning." The guy behind the counter says I smile.

"Good morning," I say back before reaching into my purse to grab the prescription. I hand it to him, "I would like to refill this." I hand him the bottle and he reads over it.

"Will do, it'll be about an hour, you can wait here or come back when it's done." He says. I nod and he goes into the back, I go back outside not wanting to wait around inside. I remember seeing a small park on my way here and I start to walk back that way.

When I get there I see 3 swings, a small slide, and a merry-go-round, I decide to sit on the middle swing. I move the dirt around with my feet when I feel myself kick something hard. I give the ground a weird look, I get off the swing and kneel on the ground. There seems to be something buried in the dirt, I start digging a small hole with my hands and pull the thing out of the ground. It's a sharp knife and the handle has vines and skulls on the handle, and what seems to be either dry blood or rust on the blade. Something about the knife makes feel uneasy but I stick it in my purse because it looks cool.

I look at my phone, I've got about 10 minutes until I need to be back at the pharmacy, so I start to head back. I go back, pick up my prescription, and thank the guy for refilling it for me. I arrive back at the house at around 5:30, I open the front door slowly before shutting it behind me and locking it. I quietly make my way up the stairs, not wanting to catch anyone's attention. I go to turn the corner to go down the hallway when I bump into someone. I jump back and see Victor standing there.

"What are you doing here?." I ask quietly.

"Looking for work," he says and I give him a weird look.

"At 5:30 in the morning?" Victor shrugs his shoulders and I roll my eyes, "Whatever, it's none of my business, I'm going to bug Ryn." I say and walk past him before going into Ryn's room.

~Ryn~

I've just finished up my work so I'm getting ready to take off when I feel hands grab my waist.

"Maybe I can come with you." Jim kisses my cheek, causing me to laugh.

"I will go home and sleep. Maybe I can stay with you next week." I turn in his grasp and kiss him lightly on the lips.

"I'll see you later." I move away from Jim and leave the GCPD, waving and telling goodbye. I look at the time on my phone to see that it's already 3:50 am. I round the corner to see Ed sitting on the steps with a woman.

"Ed?" I walk closer to them, the woman looks at me confused. I stop in my tracks. "Kristen?" They both stand up, Ed rushes and grabs my shoulders. It's not until he grabbed me did I realize I fell back, "I-I thought she was…" Ed throws me a look.

"Ryn, this is Isabella. Isabella, this is my good friend Ryn." The woman gives me a concerned look.

"Are you all right?" I nod my head at her.

"Yes, I'm sorry I thought you were somebody else." I can't help but stare at the woman.

"Let me walk you home, Ryn," Ed says beside me. I glanced at him and nodded my head. I watch as Ed and Kris... Isabella kiss goodbye and then Ed takes my arm and we walk home. The walk is silent until we get to the yard.

"Go on in. I'll be there in a moment." Ed goes into the house and I stand there with thoughts rushing through my head. My heart aches as I think about where Victor could have gone. miss him more than I know should. I'm with Jim now and I should just worry about him and forget about Victor, but this part of my brain won't let me. I shake my head and look down the road where I see someone running down the road. "Avery?" I watch her until she disappears before going into the house.

I make me the way to my room but I hear Ed and Oswald talking Apparently they were supposed to have dinner last night but Ed never showed up... probably because he was with that Isabella chick. Why did Avery leave though? I ask myself as I leave the boys to talk and head up to my room. Once I've gotten to my room I start to feel sick but I try to ignore it. I last for about 10 minutes, sitting in the middle of my bed with my eyes closed before it gets too much and I lurch out of bed and run into the bathroom where I vomit my day's food into the toilet.

Once I'm done, DYING and my eyes are watering and my throat is sore, I sit on the floor and look around the bathroom. Instantly I notice something on the shelf over the toilet, "Why the fuck is there a pregnancy test in here?" I crawl on my hands and knees until I reach it. I stretch out my hand and grab it off the shelf. It's got Olga's name on it...ew. I tear open the package and climb onto the toilet lazily. I finally get on the toilet and stick the thing under my coochie so I can pee on it. I pull it out from under me and shake the little pee droplets off it before setting it in the sink.

Outside I can hear somebody walking around in the hall, but I ignore it as I wait for the stupid stick to tell me. I glance into the sink at the stick and see a stupid fucking little ass piece of shit blue fucking plus sign, "Fuck!" I clean up and pull up my pajama pants, sticking the test into my pocket. Then, I make my way into my bedroom. I've only been sitting down, staring at the test, for a minute before my bedroom door opens and Avery comes in. I throw the test under my leg as she closes the door and comes to sit next to me on the bed.

"I went to get a refill on my meds." I smile at her lightly.

"Great. No offense but we don't need you flipping out." I glance down at my palms and under my breath, I whisper to myself, "Especially right now." When I look back up Avery is giving me a look of confusion.

"Why?" My eyes shift without my command.

"Why what?" She leans forward and our eyes lock.

"Whyyyyy!" I huff and push her back lightly before standing up and walking over to my window.

"Just cause it's Gotham, you know." I open the window and look outside. It looks like a man is standing at the gate watching me.

"Ryn?" I look away from the man for a second to see Avery looking at my bed, I look back outside but the man is gone so I close my window again and face Avery.

"What?" I lean against the wall with my arms crossed over my chest. Avery holds something up, it takes me a moment but I realize that I forgot about the pregnancy test I had been sitting on, "It's not mine!" I half shout. Avery glares and drops it back on the bed.

"You're full of shit too." I groan and shuffle back over to the bed and plop down, "Who's is it?" I purse my lips and smile.

"Your moms." That earns me another glare from her, "I don't know, okay!" I face plant into the mattress and let out a loud groan before going still. Avery shifts on the bed and her hand begin rubbing my back, "I'm a whore." I mumble through the sheets. Suddenly I sit up realizing that she must have come into my room for a reason.

"Why did you come in here? Did something happen?" Avery takes her hand back and runs it through her long wavy dark brown hair.

"I was actually coming in here to tell you about Arkham. I think I'm ready." I nod my head as Avery tells me about her stay in Arkham, but then she gets to something I wasn't expecting.

"Yeah. Ed dragged me into a closet and before I knew it we were kissing, but then he just left. He acts as nothing happened." I take a moment to think before I stand from my bed and stomp out of my room. "Where are you going?" She asks me in a panicked tone.

"Relax, I'm just going on an errand. I won't say anything to Ed if you don't want me to." Avery shakes her head, "Then I won't say anything." I give her a slight smile and then I barge into Oswald's room, "Your little boy toy is gonna get it!" I slam the door causing Oswald to sit up in bed quickly.

"What the hell!" He groans once he realizes it's just me.

"Ed is going to get it!" I repeat myself to him, "He did something I don't like and so Imma beat em." I turn my back to him as I get ready to leave his room but I stop and turn back and smile at him, "Also...I'm pregnant. Goodnight!" I quickly shuffle out of the room.

"What?! GET BACK HERE! ELLARYN!" I close his door hard and run to my room where I lock the door. Oswald is pounding on my door and when I turn around I'm surprised to see Avery leaning against the wall by the window.

"You tell him?" I nod my head and raise my arms above my head to stretch, "What's that?" I stop and see that Avery is pointing at my hip.

"A tattoo." She comes closer and looks at it.

"Funny." Avery sits up and grabs her purse from the floor. She reaches inside and pulls out a knife, "I found this at the park. It looks like your tattoo." I snatch the knife from her and look at the handle.

"Because it is. I lost it at the park a long time ago." I run my finger over the blade, still covered with blood. The only difference now is that the blood is dried.

"Oh...Also, why was Victor lurking outside your bedroom a while ago?" I pause from looking at the knife and up at her.

"What?" She nods her head.

"When I first came in. He was coming around the corner." My heart drops.

"I'm not sure. You know how he likes to stalk me." Avery chuckles.

"Could you go calm down Oswald for me? I'm tired." Avery nods her head.

"Of course." I watch as she quickly unlocks the door and shoves herself out before Oswald can get in. I tuck the knife under my pillow before changing my clothes and climbing out the window. I'm headed to Jims but since I don't have a car I have to walk. I don't really mind though considering he doesn't live too far away. Once I've gotten there I use my key to unlock the door and let myself in. I've done this about a million times so it's nothing new. What is new though is the sounds coming from Jim's room. I make my way over to the bedroom door and peek inside. The first thing I see is Jim kneeling on the bed.

"Jim?" I step into the room. Jim looks my way quickly.

"I can explain!" It's then that I notice a woman underneath him. Tears begin to sting with tears as Jim stands to his feet and slips on some pants.

"Explain my ass!" I walked all the way here to tell you something only to find you sleeping with a whore!" My fingers tingle wishing to have my knife.

"I've had a few drinks tonight, I didn't mean it." My eye starts to twitch and I blackout for a second when my vision comes back Jim's nose is bleeding and his mouth is wide open, "You're what?" My face heats up but I ignore him and turn my back to walk out. Jim grabs my arm and spins me back to face him, "You're pregnant? Is it mine?" He asks calmly. I scoff and roll my eyes.

"It wouldn't matter if it's yours because after this...You will never see us again." This time I leave and he doesn't try to stop me. I'm halfway home when I realize there are footsteps behind me. I stop and look behind me but nobody is there so I turn back and continue walking but the footsteps sound behind me again. This time, I turn around without stopping only for somebody to run right into me. I stumble backward a little but remain standing, "Why are you following me?" I glare up at Victor.

"I'm not." He says defensively. I cross my arms.

"Really? You just happen to be following close behind me early in the morning when nobody else is out?" I watch his face turn a little red, "That's what I thought." I go to walk away from him but he follows me, this time by my side.

"Why were you at Jim's place?" I glance at me as we get closer to the house, just down the street.

"He's my boyfriend. I can go over there whenever I want." Victor stops all of a sudden so I stop and look at him, "What?" His face is blank.

"Nothing." I shrug and continue walking back home. Victor doesn't follow me any further and I'm happy but sad about it. These mixed feeling are just fucking stupid. I've finally gotten home so I quietly sneak up to my room and lock the door behind me so Oswald doesn't come storming in. I lie down on my bed and curl up in a ball, before long my eyes start to feel heavy so I let them close.

~Avery~

I wake up at around noon, the last thing I remember from last night was trying to calm down a screaming Oswald. I push the blanket off and pull myself out of bed. I change into a pair of light blue jeans, a white shirt that hangs off my shoulders, and a very light tan cardigan. I pull my hair up into a bun, before grabbing my purse and getting my prescription out of it. I take two of the pills and throw the bottle on my bed before going downstairs. I go into the kitchen to look for something to eat when I walk in Oswald is sitting at the table eating a piece of toast.

"Good morning," He mumbles. I smirk and snatch the other piece of toast from the plate in front of him.

"Now it is." I chuckle and take a bite of the toast. He rolls his eyes, before getting up and walking to the sitting room. I follow behind him, wanting to ask if he's talked to Ryn this morning, until I bump into him, "What are yo-" I start to say until I look up to see Ed kissing some girl. I feel anger course through me as he jumps away from her and they both look over at us. Something inside of me breaks as I push past Oswald and over to Ed. I glare at him for a second before smacking him across the face, I hear the girl next to him gasp.

"Avery!" Oswald whisper yells. I look over at the girl, ignoring Oswald completely.

"Don't waste your time with him, he's an asshole," I say before turning, and taking off towards my room. I go in my room and slam the door behind me, as tears fall from my eyes. I clench my teeth, grab the glass on my nightstand, and throw it across the room. I let out a sob as the glass shatters in the corner. I lay face down on my bed, not even looking up when I hear someone open the door.

"I heard the door slam, and something break, is everything okay?" I hear Ryn ask as she sits on the bed next to where I'm laying. I roll to my back and look over at her.

"Yeah, everything's just peachy, I just threw a glass for fun," I say sarcastically. Ryn rolls her eyes at me.

"What happened?" She says. I sit up and look over at her.

"Oswald and I walking in on Ed kissing some bitch, so I slapped him and told her not to waste her time," I say starting to feel angry again, Ryn raises an eyebrow.

"Isabella?" I glare at her.

"You knew about this?" I ask standing from the bed.

"I saw them together a few nights ago, I didn't even think to tell you." I roll my eyes, grab my purse, put my pocket knife in my back pocket, and take the pill bottle off my bed," What are you doing?"

"I'm going out because if I don't I'm going to fucking kill him," I growl and walk out the door, leaving Ryn sitting on my bed. I walk until I get to the nearest bar, I sit down and order 4 shots of tequila. I down all 4, when a cute guy with dark brown hair and blue eyes sits on the stool next to me. He smiles at me, then he notices the shot glasses.

"Rough night?" He asks and I sigh.

"You could say that," I say looking over at him.

"What's your name?" I glance down at the bar thinking about if I want to give him my real name or not.

"Bethany," I say deciding to go with a fake name.

"Marcus." I smile at him, he buys me a drink and we talk until about midnight. Somehow we ended up dancing, his arms wrap around my waist from behind.

"You wanna get out of here?" He whispers softly in my ear, before kissing my neck. I bite my lip and nod my head yes, I take his hand and he leads me out of the bar.

We go to what I assume is his apartment, and as soon as the door shuts he's got my hands pinned to it and his lips are on mine. I moan softly into the kiss, he lets go of my hands and grabs my hips. I wrap my arms around his neck he lifts me up and carries me over to the couch. He sits to where I'm in his lap, straddling him. I throw my cardigan and shirt off and toss them onto the floor before pulling his shirt off. He starts kissing down my neck, biting spots here and there. I whine, tangle my fingers in his hair, and tip my head back giving him better access to my neck. I get this weird feeling, then I hear a voice as clear as day.

"Ed will never love you," the voice chuckles, "Especially not after this." I bite my lip, and try and focus on Marcus's hands moving up my sides, "He will never love you." I squeeze my eyes shut.

"Shut up," I growl softly to myself.

"You know I'm right." It says.

"Shut up!" I shout and before I know what I'm doing, I've got my pocket knife in my hand and I drive it into Marcus's neck. Something inside me enjoys the way he looks at me in shock and horror. Blood pools around the knife and starts to drip out his mouth, almost like he's choking on it. When I pull the knife out blood splatters on my face and chest. I watch the life drain out of his eyes and his body goes limp. I wipe the blade clean on his couch, put it in my back pocket, and stand up from the couch. I grab my shirt, cardigan, and purse off the floor. I put on the cardigan, not wanting to ruin my white shirt and I stumble out of his apartment. It takes longer than it usually would get to the house because I got lost halfway there. I open the front door, laughing at myself as I almost trip and fall. I close the front door, when I hear someone coming down the stairs, I look over and see Ryn standing at the bottom of the steps.

"Oh my god! Are you okay?" She asks rushing over to me.

"Yeah, I'm good...great actually," I say. Ryn looks at me weird.

"You're covered in blood." I giggle.

"Oh yeah, I um forgot...It's not mine, I-I might have killed a guy." I say and bite my lower lip to keep from laughing, Ryn sighs.

"Are you drunk?" She asks putting a hand on her hip, I shrug my shoulders.

"Maybe, what's it matter, are you my mother now?" I ask. She rolls her eyes, grabs my wrist, and drags me upstairs into the bathroom. I sit on the edge of the sink and watch as Ryn turns on the shower.

"You are going to get into the shower and tell me exactly what happened when I come back." She says giving me a stern look. I roll my eyes before taking my clothes off and getting into the shower. I hear her leave the room, probably to go talk to Oswald, or someone to see if they can fix this mess. I sit on the floor of the tub, feeling like the room is spinning around me. I watch the water around me turn a light pink color as I wash the blood off myself. Once I'm clean I get out, dry off and wrap a towel around myself. Ryn comes back a few minutes after I get out, holding a pair of grey sweat pants and a black tank top. I put on the clothes before sitting back down on the edge of the sink, "What happened?" She asks softly.

"I went to a bar and had a few drinks, that's when I met Marcus. We talked for a while before deciding to go back to his place. I thought it would take my mind off of things, make me feel better." I pause for a second, "Anyway we were making out on his couch and I guess I forgot my medicine. She said Ed would never love me...and she wouldn't shut up." I growl, "I guess I got frustrated, or angry and killed him." Ryn gives me a sympathetic look.

"It's going to be okay." She says, I frown.

"She's right though isn't she. He's never going to want someone like me." I say looking down at the bathroom tiles.

"Don't say that anyone would be lucky to have you….if you ask me, Ed's missing out." She says and winks at me. I giggle and she takes my hand, "Come on, let's get your pills and get you to bed. You'll feel better in the morning." I nod and follow her into my room. I sit in the middle of my bed while she gets 2 of them out of my purse. She hands them to me and leaves to get a cup of water when she returns I take the pills and drink the water. She sets the glass on the nightstand and I crawl under the blanket. She goes to leave the room and I sit up a little.

"Stay with me?" I ask and she smiles.

"Of course," She says and comes and lays next to me. I fall asleep to Ryn playing with my hair, not long after.

~Ryn~

After Avery told me what happened with Ed in the sitting room, then stormed off, anger coursed through me. Oswald and I talked it over and decided we would pay this Isabel girl a visit so Oswald hired somebody to track down where she lived so I went upstairs and put on a black tank top with a long black skirt and a light grey cardigan and a small backpack and now we're standing in front of this girl in her living room.

"You going somewhere?" I question her. She looks back and down at the bag behind her.

"Um, yes. Only for a couple of nights. I was hoping to talk with Ed before I left but I tried calling him. Is he okay?" Oswald makes a look that he only makes when he's annoyed.

"Hmm. Yes, how shall I put this?" Oswald faces her and smiles.

"It's over." Isabella scrunches her nose.

"Excuse me?" I jump into the conversation.

"He isn't going to see you anymore. You're not going to try and contact him, that door is closed. Have a nice life!" I begin to walk past her as she covers her mouth and sits on the arm of the chair.

"Oh my." She whispers. I stop and look down at her.

"It's a shock but your odd resemblance to his ex, a certain facility with riddles…" Oswald pauses. I notice a cut out of two people holding hands, "Compulsion before order. Why is it that you two really have in common?" I give Oswald a look, telling him to shut up. I kneel next to Isabella and place a hand on her knee.

"Edward is a person of exceptional intelligence and imagination." Oswald steps towards us.

"He deserves to be by someone on his on his own level and you, my dear, are simply not."

"You're right. I don't deserve him." Oswald smiles widely.

"Glad we agree." Oswald starts to walk past but Isabella begins talking again.

"But I'm not gonna let him go." She stands up slowly so I stand up too, "He loves me and I love him, do you know how rare that is, Mr. Mayor?" I glance at her to see her giving Oswald a really creepy smile, oh god she probably wants a three-way, "Of course you do because you love him too. I can see it." I quickly look over at Oswald to see him shifting uncomfortably.

"Holy shit," I mumble to myself.

"I'm not even jealous." I nod my head to myself. Yeah, she wants a three-way. Oswald shakes his head as she continues talking, bitch talks too much.

"I don't think you understood. My glasses this morning, they reminded him of Miss Kringle. He's afraid he's going to hurt me as he hurt her." Oswald glares at her and steps so close that their noses are almost touching.

"Listen to me, you little idiot." I roll my eyes, good comeback Ossy, "I am telling you one last time. Let Ed go." She leans forward.

"No. I won't write to him, I will make him understand. He has nothing to fear, I'm not going to let him go." Oswald huffs and puts on a fake smile.

"Very well. Don't say I didn't warn you." Oswald walks past me and leaves. Isabella looks at me and smiles weakly.

"I'm surprised he kept his cool." I tell her as I plop into the chair and pick up my bag, "We still doing this?" She nods her head before reaching up and taking down her hair. I stand back up while reaching into the bag, "Here." I hand her the box that I went out and got. Isabella takes it from me.

"Thank you for doing this." I smile and follow her into the bathroom. Isabella takes off her shirt and wraps a towel around her shoulders before sitting on the toilet with her back to me. I get the hair dye ready and begins to put it in her hair.

"25 minutes." I can't help but check her out as I sit on my knees on the floor in front of her. I've got to admit she's pretty fucking hot.

"Why are you staring at me?" Isabella asks gently. I shake my head and smirk.

"It's nothing. I Just didn't realize how pretty you are." I glance down at my legs but she places her hand under my chin and raises my head.

"You're pretty too, Ryn." A blush creeps across my face as I look up at her. I gently grab her hand in mine and pull her hand away.

"You're beautiful, Isabella." And before she can reply I lift myself up and smash our lips together. She kisses me back for a moment before pulling away.

"I like you, I really do...But I love Ed. Now, if he agrees with this then that's a different story." The timer goes off and Isabella drops the towel before leaning over the shower, "Rinse it for me?" I nod my head softly and help her rinse out the red color from her hair. We put her hair up and get her dressed in her Kristen get up. We've just begun putting on her makeup when Ed's voice echoes throughout the apartment.

"Isabella? Isabella, I got your note. I thought you needed to leave for your conference." I nod to Isabella.

"I can be late, Edward." I watch as she slowly puts on her lipstick, "This is more important." Ed pauses from the other room.

"Oswald, the Mayor, he informed me of your position but believe me...I think our breaking up is for the best." Isabella shakes her head with a smile.

"No, Edward. It's not. I understand your fear. It comes from a place of love, I know you won't hurt me. You never could." Isabella touches my arm gently as she walks towards the bathroom door, "I don't think that you owe…" I peek through the door as Ed looks up at Isabella. He lets out a gasp.

"Kristen!" Isabella walks towards him quickly.

"I found old photos and newspapers." Ed holds up his hands and tries to run off but Isabella grabs him.

"No, no, no! Look at me!" She grabs him tighter, "I am forcing you to face your fear, you won't hurt me! Even when I look like this, Edward!" She places her hands on his face and he stops trying to getaway. I watch as she takes his hand from her waist and places it on her neck.

"No, no, no, no, no." He mumbles to himself. Ed starts to squeeze her neck but she doesn't pull away. She lets him for a good moment.

"Edward." She gasps out. Ed looks away from her neck to her eyes and he lunges at her. Their lips connect, "Should I take the glasses off?" She asks him. Ed smiles.

"Keep them on." I watch as he lifts her off the floor. I back away from the door and lean against the already open window. My heart drops. If Avery finds out that I helped Isabella get Ed back then she'll hate me. My plan failed, she was supposed to show up as Kristen and he was supposed to kill her. Maybe I could do it...Or I could find a way for her to leave him. I can hear the sounds they're making in the other room so I climb out the window. As I'm about to close the window I hear it.

"Oh! Edward!" I frown and shut the window quietly. On my way home I can see Victor watching me from the other side of the street. I face him and stick out my hand. I wave at him with a smile before I frown and put up my middle finger. I drop my arm and continue on my way home. When I get home Oswald is sitting in his chair in the sitting room the fire is going and he's biting on his thumbnail.

"Oswald?" He looks up and smiles, "What are you planning?" I ask him. Oswald drops his smile and shakes his head.

"I'm not planning anything, Dear cousin." I glare at him.

"Don't you dare do something to that woman. She's a good person, she only wants what's best for Ed." I turn my back to him and go up to my room, I sit on my bed for a while but decide to get a drink so I go downstairs. Just as I get to the bottom Avery appears through the front door covered in blood and shirtless.

~Avery~

When I wake up I roll over expecting Ryn to still be laying next to me but she's gone. I groan at the throbbing in my head and I pull the blanket over my head as memories from last night flash through my head. I throw the blanket off myself, sit up, and take a drink of water from the glass on my nightstand. I get up and change into a pair of black shorts and a grey oversized hoodie. I look over at the clock and it's almost 4 in the afternoon, I sigh, no wonder Ryn was gone. I go into the bathroom, brush my teeth, and pull my hair up, before going downstairs. As I'm going down the stairs I hear Ryn arguing with someone.

"I knew this wouldn't end well, I should have told her to stay away from you last night when I helped her dress like Kristen for you." She says and I slowly make my way to the bottom of the steps.

"You helped with that?" I hear Ed say, obviously embarrassed. He clears his throat, "Do you think Avery could have killed her, you said she was upset and ran off." I roll my eyes and quietly stand by the sitting-room door, wanting to see where this goes.

"No, she wouldn't do that, she wouldn't do anything to hurt you." I hear Ed scoff at what Ryn said.

"You act like Oswald doesn't tell me everything, I know she came home bloody and drunk the other night. You and I both know she would have taken the opportunity to kill her if she had the chance." I fight the urge to bust into the room.

"No, she wouldn't," Ryn growls. I slowly open the door to the sitting room and they both look over at me at the same time.

"Why did you kill her?" Ed asks accusingly, and Ryn glares at him.

"Leave her alone, I already told you she didn't do it." He ignores her and takes a step towards me. I sigh and shake my head.

"Why did you do it?" He asks again glaring at me.

"I didn't kill her." I say crossing my arms, "Why would I, I didn't have a problem with her,"

"Of course yo-," I cut him off.

"No, Edward I didn't. My problem wasn't with her, it was with you. Why don't you figure out the whole damn story before you go talking about me behind my back and accusing me of things." I say stepping into his personal space, as I glare up at him.

"Okay, that's enough!" Ryn says and Ed gives me a dirty look before pushing past me and leaving the room. I frown feeling bad and Ryn gives me a sad smile, "It'll be okay, he just needs some time." I nod.

"I didn't kill her, you know that right," I say softly, tears stinging my eyes. She walks over to me and hugs me.

"I know you didn't, and deep down he knows that too, he's just upset. It'll all be okay." I nod and she lets go of me after a few seconds, "I need to go talk to Ossy, will you be okay by yourself?" She asks and I put on my best fake smile.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." She smiles and leaves the room. I go into the kitchen to make some toast and a glass of orange juice. I sit on the counter and eat the toast, swinging my feet back and forth. I giggle as I almost spill the juice on myself when I finish it I put the glass in the sink.

For an hour or so I lay on the couch in the sitting room, reading some stupid book I found laying around. I make a weird face and set the book down. Ed hasn't been downstairs and I haven't heard anything from upstairs at all. I stand up, leaving the book on the couch, and walk up the stairs. I stop in front of Ed's door and just stand there for a second before knocking.

"It's Avery, can we talk...please," I say and wait a few seconds but receive no answer. I bite my lip and slowly open the door when I get in the room I shut the door slowly behind me. Ed is laying in his be on his side, staring at the wall, the only light in the room is the small lamp in the corner, "Are you okay?" I ask, and get no answer….He doesn't even look my way.

"He hates you, he won't even look at you." I hear a whisper, and I shake my head.

"He's just upset, the girl he loved just died," I whisper back. I gasp when I see her. She's leaning in the corner of the room, opposite of me. She looks just like me...but something about her is different. I completely forget Ed is in the room as she pushes off the wall and takes a step toward me.

"You know you keep telling yourself that, but he believes you killed her and blames you for her death." She says giving me a smirk.

"I didn't kill her, you and I both know that," I growl and she chuckles.

"Yeah, but it seems like he doesn't care who did it, he blames you." She says getting closer, I shake my head and back up until my back hits the door, "He blames you." She repeats as I slide down the door until I'm sitting. My knees are pulled up to my chest and I've got my hands tangled in my hair, "He hates you." She whispers in my ear.

"Leave me alone!" I shout, pulling at my hair, everything goes black for a second. I feel a hand on my shoulder and someone saying my name. All the sudden I can see again like nothing ever happened. Ed is kneeling beside me, hand on my shoulder.

"Avery, what's wrong?" He asks with panic in his voice. I let go of my hair and look over at him. I feel tears dripping down my face, I didn't even realize I was crying until now.

"I forgot my pills again," I say softly, feeling like an idiot. I scan the room to make sure she's gone, "I'm sorry you had to see that." My voice shakes and he pulls me into his arms.

"It's okay, you're okay" I sob into his chest, as he holds me.

"I-I'm sorry, I've been such a bitch," I grab ahold of his shirt, "Please, tell me you don't hate me." I plead, looking up at him.

"I don't hate you, I couldn't even if I wanted to." He says, giving me a sad look. We stay like this on the floor, until I calm down. Ed stands first, before helping me up.

"I didn't kill Isabella, but I can help you figure out who did...I owe that to you." We sit and talk for a little bit, throwing around ideas of who could have possibly killed her. Finally, we come to the conclusion that Butch would most likely be the one who did it.

"I'll take care of getting Butch and Tabitha to the warehouse, if you can run and get the supplies we'll need." He says handing me a small list of things, along with the address to the warehouse.

"Okay, I'll meet you there," He nods and I leave the room. I walk across the hall over to my room, take my medicine, and put on a pair of black jeans. I grab my purse and make sure I have anything before leaving the house. The things on the list were fairly easy to find, but never in a million years did I see myself buying 2 ball gags, restraints, and medium-sized guillotine. I shake my head as I pull in behind the warehouse, somehow I manage to carry the bag and the guillotine inside by myself. When I get inside Butch and Tabitha are passed out in chairs and Ed is tinkering with some machine that's sitting on a cart.

"Where do you want this?" I ask, struggling to hold everything. His looks over at me.

"The table right there." He points at the table next to Tabby, then goes back to doing whatever it is he's doing. I sigh and set the guillotine down on the table, before taking the gags and restraints out of the bag. I'm assuming he wants them restrained and gagged so I go ahead and do it. I walk back over to the cart and look at the machine.

"What is this?" I ask and he looks up at me.

"This goes on Butch's head," he says holding up the headset before picking up a remote with a button on the top, "And when you press this button, it's going to shock him." I nod and he gives me a little smile, "Thank you, for helping me with this." He says and I smile back.

"It's the least I could do," I say and look down at the floor. The phone in the back of the room suddenly rings and we both look back at it. I watch as Ed walks back and answers it.

"Are you checking up on me." He says in an annoyed tone. He continues talking on the phone when I notice Butch and Tabby starting to wake up. Butch tries to talk but it's all muffled. I put a finger up to my lips to shush him.

"He's on the phone," I whisper, giving Butch a smirk. Ed hangs up the phone and starts to walk over this way.

"Sorry, you had to hear that, he can just be so self-centered." He walks over to Butch until he is just a few feet away from him, "What were we talking about?" He pauses, "Oh right, how I found you." He laughs, then motions for me to push the cart up. I move the cart until it is in between Butch and Tabitha. Butch is glaring up at Ed, "Well, it wasn't hard. The next time you want to disappear consider taking a sabbatical from your favorite restaurant. Come here." He says before putting the headset on Butch, "With a healthy amount of midazolam in your food to knock you out. 100 bucks to your delivery boy, who by the way I get the feeling hasn't been being tipped very well, Butch." Ed says getting in Butch's face. Butch tries to speak again, "I'm sorry, what was that?" Ed asks putting a hand up to his ear, before removing the gag from Butch's mouth.

"You're going to regret this." Butch says and Ed grins, "You touch one hair on her head, I swear I'll kill you."

"Save your strength big guy." Ed says smacking his cheek twice, "You're going to need it," He says backing up from Butch.

"You tell Penguin, he's a coward! If he wants me dead, he should come here and do it like a man!" Ed picks up the remote for the machine and hands it to me before turning it on. I give him a weird look before he turns his attention back to Butch.

"This has nothing to do with Penguin." He says pointing a finger at Butch, "And you are the coward, killing an innocent woman." He growls.

"What? Who?" Butch says giving Ed and me a strange look.

"Isabella! She was my everything and you took her from me!" He says growing louder at the end.

"What in the hell are you talking about?" Butch asks shaking his head.

"I was hoping you'd be difficult," Ed says smirking. He looks back at me, and I look between him and Butch before hitting the button on the remote. I hold the button down for about 2 seconds, and Ed laughs as it electrocutes Butch. Tabby makes a struggling sound as she looks away, the shock stops as soon as I let go of the button. Butch breathes heavily and Tabitha is trying to pull herself out of the restraints.

"How many times do I have to tell you, I don't know this woman," Butch says, his breathing still labored. I push the button down again, and I bite my lip to keep from chuckling. I know I shouldn't find this funny but I really do.

"Well, then I suppose I should put my attention elsewhere," Ed says moving over to Tabby.

"No! No! Leave her outta this." Butch says shaking his head.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, she is an integral part of your penance. It was such a pleasant surprise when I discovered that the two of you are together," Ed laughs, "You know, after the initial gag reflex." He makes a face, and Butch looks over at Tabby before looking back to Ed.

"You know, I bet this gal doesn't even exist." Tabitha looks over at Butch and gives him a what the hell are you doing look, " I mean come on, who would fall in love with a freakshow like you!" I clench my teeth, and hold the remote tighter, "Oh wait, let me guess I bet she's got a certificate too." Butch says and laughs. I growl and push the button, holding it longer than I probably should. Tabby tries to shout something through the gag. Ed puts a hand up, signaling for me to let go of the button, and I reluctantly do. Butch looks like he's going to pass out, as Ed walks over and takes the gag off Tabitha.

"Tell me what you want!" She says loudly, Ed leans down so their faces are at the same level.

"I wanna break Butch's heart before I end his life. You know a kinda eye for an eye thing, but In this case," He smirks and looks down at her hand, "I'll take a hand." The corner of her lips trembles as she looks over at her hand. Ed takes her right hand out of the restraint and straps it into the guillotine.

"Hey! Come on, let's talk about this. Come on Ed, you don't have to do this." Ed walks over to me and takes the remote, before putting it in Tabby's hand, "Listen I told you I've never heard of anyone named Isabell." Ed glares over at him.

"ISABELLA!" He shouts," Why is that so difficult! Also, I'm not the one you should be pleading with, your life is in her...hand," He chuckles and points at Tabitha. I watch as her handshakes as she looks down at the remote she's holding.

"What difference does it make, you're going to kill me one way or the other, right?" I watch as she gives Butch a sad look.

"He makes a good point," I say shrugging my shoulders. He looks back at me and chuckles before looking back to Butch and Tabby.

"Avery's right." Ed stops to think for a second, "New deal! If she loves you enough to sacrifice her hand, twinsies, in exchange for your life I swear on the memory of my beloved Isabella I will set you both free." He reaches up to the top of the guillotine and turns on the timer. Ed walks back over to me as they both look at each other, breathing heavily. Ed and I watch as Butch tries to convince Tabby to do it so they can get out, but she doesn't seem to be buying it.

"Butch, I like you, but I'm not really in a loving place right now." Ed laughs and I giggle as Butch looks down at the floor.

"Sorry, big fella. I wish that I could say that I'm surprised, but I knew she was going to say that." He pauses, shrugging his shoulders, "That's why I made the offer." He whispers and I grin, "Any final words?"

"I would keep it brief," I say looking over at the timer. Butch looks over at her.

"Tabby, baby, the last few weeks have been the best of my life." She looks over at him surprised, "And it's okay you don't love me, cause I love you." He chuckles, "And for a guy like me, t-that's enough." She gives him a small smile and he glares over at Ed, "And you, you damn right I killed her, I killed the woman you loved. You know what she said to me?" Ed glares back at him, "Right before I put a bullet in her brain, you know what she told me?" I make a confused face, "She said she wished she would have been with a real man."Butch growls. I watch as Ed glances down at the floor, looking confused as well.

"Hey, Butch," Tabby says looking over at him and he looks back at her.

"Yeah?" he asks.

"You're sweet." She says. I look over at the time and It's only got a few seconds left. It goes off and Tabby lets go of the remote.

"NO!" Butch shouts and Ed's head snaps over to her just as the blade comes down on her hand. I flinch and squeeze my eyes shut. She gasps and Butch is trying to get out of his restraints, "UNTIE ME, PLEASE, SHE'S GOTTA GET TO A HOSPITAL QUICK!" Butch yells and Ed looks between them, his mouth hanging open. I watch Tabby pass out and Ed starts to take again.

"You said that you put a bullet in her head, Isabella died in a car crash, the brake lines were cut." He says trying to figure everything out.

"I DON'T CARE! I TOLD YOU I NEVER HEARD OF HER!" Butch yells.

"You really didn't kill her?" He asks, I look at Tabby whos bleeding badly and Butch is yelling at Ed to untie him.

"Ed I don't think he did it...she needs help or she's going to bleed out." I'm about to go help her when the door to the warehouse busts open. Ed and I both turn to see Barbara walk in, she points a gun at him.

"I'd put that hand on some ice." He says timidly looking at the gun. He grabs my arm and we walk past Barbara who is trying to comprehend what happened. I notice Ed shaking a little, and once we get outside the warehouse I stop.

"Let me drive back, you are in no condition to drive." I say and he stops and looks back at me, "We can come back for the car later." He nods and we get into my car and drive away.

~Timeskip~

It's been at least 2 weeks since the whole Butch and Tabby thing. At first, Ed was upset that we had to start all over again in trying to find out who killed Isabella but a time when on he started to focus more on his job as Chief of Staff for Oswald. Right now I'm leaning against the wall in Oswald's office, Ed is leaning over the his desk looking through some papers.

"Need help with anything?" I ask pushing off the wall, he glances over at me.

"No, I've got it." I shrug my shoulders and start to walk over there when I hear the doors open. Ed and I look over, I expect to see Ryn or Oswald, but instead, Barbara comes waltzing in.

"No rest for the wicked." She's says walking into the room, Ed gives her a nervous look. She puts her hands up and smiles.

"Relax, I'm not here to get revenge for you two lopping off Tabby's paw." She says eyeing us before sitting down on the chair in front of the desk, "Though I am surprised to find you back at work." She gives Ed a strange look, "And not tracking down the person who really did kill your lady love."

"That's because you don't see the full picture." Ed says making a box in the air with his pen, "The mayor has many enemies, these enemies understand that I'm a fundamental part of this operation." He moves over to the other side of the room where the other table is, now he is facing away from Barbara, "They weaken me, they weaken him. That was clearly the intent of killing Isabella." He glances back at her, before looking back at the papers. Barbara tilts her head to the side like she knows something and I make a face, "Also, I have spies all over the city, soon enough whoever killed Isabella will reveal themselves." He smirks and she grins, "And I will strike." Barbara shakes her head.

"Poor blind baby, it's always hard to see what's right under our noses." Ed stands up straighter and I look over at Barbara. What is she playing at, I think to myself, when she fake coughs, "Penguin!" She whispers shouts and I furrow my eyebrows together. He looks back at her and gives her an awkward kind of smile.

"Did you just fake cough Penguin?" He asks and chuckles, "Needless to say, that is absurd on a number of levels." He turns back to his work.

"Really, all a crime requires is means, motive, and opportunity. And your beaky little buddy sure has means and opportunity." I give her a confused look as Ed picks up a paper.

"But no motive," I say, she shakes her head and smiles.

"Oh, I say he had the oldest motive in the book." She pauses a second and Ed seems to not be paying attention, "Rich men want it, wise men know it, and the poor all need it." As soon as she finishes Ed stands straighter and pipes in, and it hits me, that little shit is in love with Ed and he got rid of Isabella.

"Love." He paused, "What does that have to do with-," Ed stops in the middle of his sentence and a frown starts to form on his face, Barbara stands.

"And the penny...drops." Ed takes a breath and turns to her slowly.

"You are suggesting that Oswald, is in love with me." He says, his voice a little lower than normal. I roll my eyes, wondering how I didn't figure it out sooner, it seems so obvious now, "That is ridiculous." He says.

"I know, personally I find you a bit of a cold fish, but Ossy saw you being taken away from him by that bookish vixen...and." She starts to imitate a car crashing. I growl and fight the urge to walk over there and smack her. He just smirks at her.

"Uh, no, in fact, I'm beginning to wonder what your motive is in all of this." She glares up at him.

"That's for later," She walks behind him and circles around him, "For now, I just wanna see justice for that poor sweet girl." She says giving him fake sad eyes.

"Miss Keane, I need you to understand two things." He says holding 2 fingers up, "One, Oswald did not kill Isabella, and two he's not in love with me." She steps closer to him, getting in his face a little. I take a breath needing to calm down, as she strokes his cheek.

"Are you so certain, don't you owe it to her to find out?" She leaves her hand there for a second, "Let me know how it goes." She says before walking past him, he watches her walk out before turning to me.

"That's ridiculous, what she said can't be true," Ed says and picks up a stack of papers before taking them over to the desk. I sigh and walk over to the front of the desk.

"I don't know she seemed like she was telling the truth." I say, crossing my arms, "I don't see what she has to gain from lying about that." Ed shakes his head.

"I'm sure there's something she wants, I just can't figure out what it is right now." I sigh and put my hands on the desk and lean down a little so my face is level with his.

"I've seen the way he looks at you. Take it from someone who is in love with you and suppresses those feeling, just like he does...Oswald is in love with you." He looks at me in confusion.

"You...Love me?" He asks softly.

"You know for such a smart guy, you're kind of an idiot. Of course, I love you, I have ever since you dragged me into that closet back at Arkham. Why do you think I was so upset when we got home and you acted as nothing happened?" I say, my cheeks feel like they are burning up and I can't tell if it's because I'm getting upset or embarrassed.

"I'm sorry-" He starts to say more but I interrupt him.

"No, forget it, it's okay." I pause and back away from the desk, "Just talk to Oswald, let me know what happens." And with that said I leave the room.


	4. Chapter 3

~Chapter 3 Ryn~

I haven't been able to find Oswald anywhere, the little gay shit ran off again. With a groan, I make my way into the sitting area only to bump right into someone. I rear up and see Ed.

"Hey." I grin up at him but his eyes darken as he stares at me, "Ed?" Before I realize it, one of his hands is around my collar and intense pain shoots my back as he slams me against the wall. I notice something biting into my abdomen. I let out a gasp as I claw at his gripping fist.

"ED! QUIT!" I hear Avery cry behind him. My vision goes dark as his grip tightens, "EDWARD!" Suddenly I feel him pulled away from me, air touches my lungs hard causing me to cough. Once I catch my breath, I gape at him.

"WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM!" I shriek at him as I hold my neck with one hand, using my other to balance myself against the wall.

"You killed her because he told you too and you agreed because you couldn't stand that she was MINE!" My mouth falls open.

"WHY WOULD I KILL YOUR STUPID GIRLFRIEND, DUMBASS! SHE WAS MY FRIEND TOO!" I exhale and slide down the wall with exhaustion as Ed storms past me. My eyes sting with tears, Avery kneels in front of me.

"Are you okay?" She asks me gently. I shake my head as the tears spill. "I'll talk to him. Do you think the baby is okay?" I peer down at my still flat stomach.

"Fine." She places a hand on my shoulder.

"He's just upset and confused... he doesn't know or else he wouldn't have done that." I bow my head and sniffle. I groan as Avery rises and leaves. After a few minutes, I get up from the floor and storm out of the house. I don't know where I'm going or that it's raining until I pause in front of the apartment building. Anger courses through me but I push it down as I enter the building and continue up to his apartment, this time I knock. It takes a moment, but he opens the door with a smile on his face.

"Ryn." The smile drops. "What are you doing here?" He moves aside so I can come in. I take the key from my pocket and hand it to him.

"I came to give this to you." He looks down at it.

"Ryn, you realize that I love you. Even if it's not in that form." I bow my head and go to say something.

"Jim?" I look to where the voice is coming from. A woman rests in the bedroom doorway wearing one of his shirts.

"Seriously?" I huff and glower at him. "You could have at least waited a week!" Tears sting my eyes but before they can fall, I shove past him and slam the door shut. I'm just about halfway home, soaked from the rain when a hand wraps around my wrist and yanks me into the alley. My back hits the wall.

"Hey, pretty girl. Where ya goin?" A bearded man leans close to my face and I can smell the alcohol on his breath.

"Let me go," I whisper.

"Why would I do that?" He shoves his face in my neck and inhales, "You smell fresh." The man's hand grips my waist and pushes himself into me.

"Get off me!" I tilt my head back and headbutt him. He stumbles back just an inch, not enough for me to get free. He shouts in frustration and pins my arms above my head with his hands.

"Do that again and I'll kill you!" The man bites down on my shoulder hard enough to draw blood. He pulls back so I can see his face; it's covered in my blood. I can't help but laugh. "What's so funny," I smirk and lean closer to the man.

"You don't know who I am." I bring up my knee, I hit the spot and the man falls. I kneel next to him. As I'm looking him over, I notice a knife so I pick it up and press it to the guy's cheek.

"You're crazy." He mumbles as I stare into his eyes.

"I guess I am pretty mad." I lean down and put my mouth next to his ear and in a low voice I whisper, "I'm a bad guy." With that being the last thing I say to him, I plunge the knife into his neck and slice all the way across. I leave the knife sitting in his neck as I stand. I admire my work on the man before I sigh and pull out my phone and click #1 speed-dial.

"Speak." He huffs into the phone.

"Hi, Papi!" He laughs on the other side of the phone.

"Baby girl, what can I do for you?" I smirk, "I have a problem that needs to be disposed of." I can hear him chuckle lightly.

"Say no more. I'll send someone out to get rid of it." I look down at the body.

"Thank you, Carmine." I blow a kiss through the phone before hanging up and continuing on my way home. Avery is pacing a little ways from the door chewing on her thumbnail when I walk in.

"Ryn!" Instantly her hands are on my face, "What happened?!" She drags me to the sitting room where Ed is standing like a fucking statue, "Ed go get something to stop the bleeding!" I look at her confused.

"Bleeding?" My shoulder stings so I look down at it, "Oh yeah. I forgot about that." Ed hands Avery a wrap and some rubbing alcohol. I don't even flinch when she pours it onto the wound. Avery wraps it up.

"What happened, Ryn?" I lean my head in my hands.

"I went to see Jim. There was a woman so I stormed out but I wasn't paying attention and a man grabbed me. It's okay, I took care of him." Avery stares at me until I start to get annoyed, "If you don't look away from me I'll do to you what I did to him." I stand up from the chair and start walking upstairs, "I'd get ready if I were you guys. The Award Banquet is in an hour and I'm guessing people will start to show up soon." I close the bathroom door and quickly shower, being careful not to get my bandage wet. After I've dried off I head to my room and put on my short white dress and black heels. I grab a hair tie and pull my hair into a casual ponytail before I head downstairs where people have already started to crowd around. I stand to the side trying to keep from throwing up. The banquet is in full swing now and Oswald seems to be enjoying himself way too much. I sigh and place my hands on my stomach, "Shh. Calm down." I glance down at my stomach, I notice a small bump forming. I've just run my finger over the bump when somebody places a hand on my back.

"Excuse me?" I look up and drop my hands.

"Yes?" I notice the camera in the woman's hands.

"I'm a reporter for Gotham Gazette and I was wondering if you could answer some questions?" I nod my head and smile at her.

"Of course." She stands back and hands the camera to a man next to her before she takes out a notepad. She asks me a few questions like if the party so far was interesting and a bunch of other stupid questions.

"How did you get invited tonight?" I pause before deciding to tell the truth.

"I live here." She scribbles that down.

"Why is it that you are living with our current Mayor?" I can sense trouble coming on, "I noticed you rubbing your abdomen just a moment ago, is he the father of your unborn child?" I scrunch up my face.

"Mr. Cobblepot is my cousin, our mothers were sisters." She pinches her lips together.

"What about your child's father? Who is it?" I stare right in the woman's eyes as I answer her.

"James Gordon is the father." The reporter stops writing and looks up at me. I'm about to ask another question but the nausea is starting to get to me, "Excuse me." I hightail it to the bathroom and let out a clear liquid. I sit for a moment before I remember I haven't eaten in like two days. I flush the toilet and rinse out my mouth and then I go looking for Avery but I can't find her so I just head up to bed. I undress out of my dress and shoes and put on a t-shirt and pajama pants, my hair I yank out of the ponytail and then I flop onto my bed. It doesn't take long for my eyes to feel heavy so I close them.

~Avery~

I look at myself in the mirror. My hair is pulled back in a low bun that's got a braid wrapped around it, and I'm wearing a strapless bright red dress. It's frilly, shorter in the front longer in the back, and it has what seems to be red, lace flowers and vines that go to about the middle of the dress. I put on some red lip gloss and touch up my mascara before heading downstairs. The party...banquet thing is in full swing, and I see Ryn talking to some reporter, I'm about to go talk to her when Ed catches my attention. He came to see me a few nights ago, after the Barbara thing, to tell me he had tried to resign as Chief of Staff, and it was confirmed that Oswald is in love with him. Ever since then Ed has been actively doing everything he can to avoid him.

When I look back over where Ryn was she's gone. I look around trying to find her, but she is nowhere to be found. I walk around making small talk with people here and there and try to avoid all the reporters as best as I can. After a few minutes, I see people gathering around Oswald, he is holding an award of some kind, and giving a speech that I could care less about. Why am I even here, I think to myself, I should have just stayed upstairs. I giggle when I see Ed standing in the back as far away from Oswald as he could possibly be. I frown when I notice him pull something out of his pocket, as he glares at him. I make my way around the reporters and over to where Ed is standing, I'm about to tap his shoulder when he turns around. I jump a little, not expecting him to do that.

"Are you okay? You looked upset." I say, looking up at him.

"Upset doesn't even begin to explain how I feel," He mutters, then I notice the knife in his hand.

"I know you are angry and I understand that, but this isn't the time or place," I say softly, glancing down at the knife then back up at him. He takes a breath before closing the knife and putting it back in his pocket.

"Edward." I see him tense up at the sound of Oswald's voice, "I was worried when you ran off that I might have upset you. Can't we pretend that nothing happened, to go back to the way things were?" Ed doesn't turn away from me and his face stays blank, "You are the best friend I've ever had. I don't want to lose you. Please." Oswald's voice cracks slightly. I watch as Ed turns around quickly into Oswald's arms.

"You're my best friend as well, Oswald. Remember that." Ed pulls away from Oswald and leaves the room. I give Oswald a look, before following Ed out of the room, and upstairs. He gets to his room before I catch up, and when I walk in I see him throwing stuff into a bag.

"What are you doing?" I ask, he doesn't say anything he just keeps putting things into the bag. I roll my eyes, "Will you slow down, and just tell me what's going on?" I ask, grabbing the sleeve of his suit. He turns and looks at me.

"I'm leaving, I can't stay here." He says pulling his arm away from me.

"Just breath for a second, calm down, and think about this," I say crossing my arms.

"I did think about this, I almost killed him in front of everyone, I need to go and figure this out alone." And without another word, he grabs the bag and leaves the room. I sigh and roll my eyes. I leave the room and go down the hallway to Ryn's room, when I open the door she's laying on her bed, half-asleep.

"Ed left," I say, closing the door behind me. She sits up slowly on the bed.

"Why?" She asks, and I go sit on the bed next to her.

"He's trying to work through something and he thought it would be better to leave," I say, not wanting to get into the whole he wanted to kill your cousin thing. She shrugs her shoulders and lays back down.

"I'm sure he'll get over whatever it is." I nod.

"Yeah," I say softly, knowing this probably isn't going to end well.

~Timeskip~

It's been a few days since Ed left, reporters have been trying to get in to ask Ryn about the baby, or her and Jim's relationship. So neither of us have really left the house recently. I sigh, slide out of bed, and go over to the dresser to find something to wear. I put on a peach-colored crop top that buttons down in the front, and a pair of high waisted blue jeans. I hear my phone ring and I sigh, it's probably Ryn wanting me to get something because she doesn't want to get out of bed. I pick up my phone, but I don't recognize the number. I answer anyway.

"Hello?" I question.

"Meet me at the pier in 10 minutes." I hear Ed's voice on the other line, then he hangs up. I pull the phone away from my ear and glare down at it.

"Yeah, leave for a few days then call and tell me what to do, it's fine I wasn't worried or anything," I say sarcastically to myself before slamming my phone shut. I grab my purse and go down the stairs. I'm about to go out the door when I hear Oswald.

"Avery?" I turn to look back at him.

"Yes?" I ask, moving a piece of hair out of my face.

"I was wondering if you've heard from Edward, he hasn't been back for a while." I give him a look.

"No, I haven't," I lie, "But I'll let you know if I do." I smile and before he can say anything else I'm out the door. It takes a few minutes to drive down to the pier, Ed is standing at the edge of the pier looking out at the water. I walk over to him, before sitting down, dangling my feet over the edge of the pier," It's a gloomy day." I say softly, looking out at the water. The sky is a greyish blue color, and the clouds are a little darker than normal.

"I need you to help me with something." He says glancing down at me.

"What?" I asked, swinging my legs a little.

"I need you to call Oswald and tell him I told you to meet me here and that I'm missing. Tell him you think someone kidnapped me and you need his help." Ed says. I take my phone out of my pocket. I look at my phone before I look back at him.

"What do you want with him?" I ask, thinking about how upset Ryn would be if something were to happen to Oswald.

"I just want to talk to him." I nod, I'm not really sure that I believe that, but I call him anyway.

"Avery?" He says my name as more of a question. I take a breath before speaking.

"I lied to you earlier, Ed called, he told me to meet him at the pier. H-he's not here though, I think someone might have taken him." I say trying my best to sound convincing. He stays silent for a second.

"Don't leave, I'll be there soon." He pauses and I let out a shaky breath," Don't worry, we'll find him." Oswald says and hangs up the phone. I close my phone and stand up.

"He's on his way." I smile and turn to him, "I'm going to go wait by the car."

"Thank you, Avery." He says, putting a hand on my shoulder. I look down at the ground.

"No problem, it's what friends do," I say softly. I give him a small smile before walking back over to the car. I lean against the side of it, waiting for Oswald. He gets here a few minutes later. I stand up straighter as he gets out of the car and start to walk towards me, then he notices Edward standing at the end of the pier. He glares at me, and I look down at the ground as he continues to walk by me and over to Ed. When I look over at them, Oswald is facing away from the water and Ed is in front of him. I'm too far away to hear what they are talking about. I'm about to try and get closer so I can hear when I see Ed pull a gun from his pocket and point it right at Oswald. I keep watching as they talk, Oswald grabs him by the tie and kisses him. My eyes widen, and I feel like I can't breathe. I turn around and start to walk the other direction when I see Ryn coming my way.

"Ryn?!" I ask. I hear a gunshot and Ryn takes off running, I turn just in time to see Ed push Oswald off the pier. I watch in shock as she falls at the edge of the pier and screams. His body is already gone though, I can tell by how Ryn has her arm in the water up to her shoulder as she continues to scream for him. I take a step forward but Ed grabs my arm.

"He deserved it." His grip tightens, "Maybe she does too." His voice cracks. I look up at him but his eyes are focused on the water. I turn back to Ryn to see her staring at us, face red as tears continue to fall from her face.

"I'll kill you!" She screams as she lunges at Ed. He steps back and I grab hold of her.

"Go get in the car!" I shout at Ed, as Ryn claws at me.

"LET ME GO! PLEASE! I NEED TO KILL HIM! AVERY, PLEASE!" She lets out another sob before going limp in my arms, "Please." I don't let go of her until I know Ed is out of her reach.

"I know you aren't going to want to hear this, but as much as I disagree with how Ed handled this, and as much as I didn't like Isabella, Oswald did deserve it," I say, I watch her face go from sad to angry in a matter of second. She pushes me away from her.

"No, he didn't deserve this, he just wanted Ed to love him, just like you do." She growls, "Just take him, and leave. I don't want to to see his face." I frown.

"Ryn please don't-." She cuts me off.

"JUST GO!" She shouts.

"Okay," I say almost inaudibly. I turn and walk to the car before getting into the driver's side.

"Avery," Ed says gently. I shake my head and look over at him, tears gathering in my eyes.

"Don't, we can talk when we get back home. I need to focus on driving." I say before turning the car on and driving away.


End file.
